“Backed by the Oil & Gas Industry, Sky High for Kids Is on a Mission to End Childhood Cancer“ with Brittany Hebert Franklin CEO of Sky High Kids.

This article originally feature on Flipping the Barrel’s website. Visit the link to tune in on the full episode. 

On the podcast today we have the pleasure of speaking with Brittany Hebert Franklin the Co-Founder and CEO of Sky High for Kids. With oil and gas donations as their backbone, Sky High pledged a 10 million dollar commitment for the first immunotherapy dedicated solely to pediatric cancer at Texas Children’s Hospital. You can learn more about their commitment here https://skyhighforkids.org/our-impact/who-we-support/ and donate to the cause here https://skyhighforkids.org/donate/. Brittany was recently named as one “Houston’s 20 Most Influential Houstonians” by Modern Luxury.

Helping her family on their crawfish farm in Abbeville, LA and participating in local beauty pageants is where you would find Brittany at age 13. Little did she know the pageants would be the groundwork to something much bigger than she could have imagined. The first fundraising event she was a part of was “ Beanies for St. Jude”, as part of her duties as Miss Acadiana. Brittany talks about the progression from Beanies for St. Jude to her own sporting clay tournament fundraiser when she was 21 for the very hospital that inspired her years prior. Listen in to find out how she not only met the initial 10k goal but surpassed it, not to mention she left the tournament with multiple job offers without still in college.

Brittany founded Sky High in 2007. During this time, she met a young boy who was battling cancer, Bryce Norwood, at St. Jude. Bryce would ultimately become the drive behind Sky High.

“When Bryce passed away on his 6th birthday (Valentines Day), God spoke to me. Ok, not literally, but this was his final sign that he put me on earth to do something bigger than myself and this time I would listen! Our Co-Founder, Christl and I sprang into action! Christly hired a lawyer & CPA and before I blinked, we were signing the Articles of Incorporation on October 5, 2007 (my birthday). We would be called “Sky High for St. Jude” (now Sky High for Kids) and our Founding Board of Directors would consist of six young women ready to fundraise by hosting sporting clay tournaments”

Brittany shares her struggles growing up and how she spent her 20’s building Sky High for Kids, which left little time for her to focus on her life outside of work and Sky High. She shares on the podcast the impact this had on her life and how she became CEO of Sky High in 2018.